


Wide Eyes Burn Blind

by newisalwaysbetter



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Cold, F/M, Feelings, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, POV Flynn, Set s2+, Snow Blindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24576616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newisalwaysbetter/pseuds/newisalwaysbetter
Summary: Even blind, he wants to protect her.(Prompt: "Is your seatbelt on?"
Relationships: Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Wide Eyes Burn Blind

When Flynn swore that he would chase Rittenhouse to the ends of the earth, he admits he hadn’t meant it literally.

Still, a promise is a promise, and they’re running short on leads, so when they get word of the _Mothership_ pursuing an ancient chest of Rittenhouse artifacts buried literally at the bottom of the world, Flynn puts on his thickest turtleneck and fights Lucy and Rufus into their heaviest coats. With Wyatt still recovering from a stray bullet to the leg, Jiya had been next in line, until Connor starts complaining about Rittenhouse pursuing Shackleton (“What, it’s not enough to go about knocking off American heroes now?”), and Flynn slides the coat from Jiya’s shoulders and wordlessly hands it to him. (Much to Connor’s dismay.)

It’s only after they struggle through a blizzard, infiltrate Shackleton’s expedition, evade and eliminate Rittenhouse as necessary, dig the chest out of a snowy ravine, and lug it back to the _Lifeboat_ that they realize it’s far too large to fit inside with all four of them. It takes ten minutes’ squabbling to establish that Flynn will be the one giving up his seat to the chest, despite Lucy’s best efforts to stay behind.

“You have to dig a snow cave,” she instructs him, as Flynn leans over her, buckling her seatbelt. “You have to dig down deep and stay warm. We’ll be back as soon as the Lifeboat’s charged, I promise.” She shakes her head, lips pursed in frustration. “I wish we didn’t have to leave you like this. If Rittenhouse comes back–”

“I’ll be _fine,_ ” Flynn assures her, his breath warm on her face. He gives the strap a smart jerk. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Fat chance of that,” Lucy says as he pulls out of the ship and signals to Rufus. “Do you have any idea how many Antarctic expeditions have ended in–”

She’s cut off by the Lifeboat door sliding shut. “Travel safe.” Flynn waves jauntily. “Have fun with the sealed evil.”

Then he digs himself an appropriately large den in the snow and hunkers down to wait.

In spite of Lucy’s instructions, Flynn wants them to be able to find him upon their return. (And yes, he may still be a little bitter about being left in 1934.) So after a moment’s hesitation, Flynn pops his head out into the frosty air, and settles in to survey the blank horizon.

It’s some hours later, he supposes, that Flynn hears the distinctive roar of the _Lifeboat_ returning for him. At least, he hopes it’s the _Lifeboat;_ there is, Flynn supposes, a dangerous possibility that Rittenhouse has finally come to put him out of his misery.

He has no way of knowing, however, because at this point he’s gone completely blind.

Flynn fumbles his gun from its holster, cursing; his usually agile fingers have turned stiff with cold. Pointing it vaguely in the direction of the time machine, he opens his burning eyes to squint towards the sound, feigning sight.

There’s the sound of footsteps crunching on snow.

“Flynn…” Lucy’s gentle voice comes from above him, closer than expected, and Flynn’s jaw tightens with the realization that she’s crept up far too close without his noticing. He’d always suspected, in his worst moments that he’d be useless without his sight, and it’s true, it’s all true.

“It’s _us,_ ” Lucy murmurs. Flynn’s fingers on the gun tremble with cold, and a small hand, still warm from the glove, comes to rest upon them. “It’s only us. Now please, put the gun down?”

Flynn glances down as he does, so she won’t realize he can’t meet her eyes. The confession rises to his lips, but Flynn clenches his jaw and swallows it down. He’s _fine._ He’ll feign exhaustion and hide away in the utter silence of his room, where none of the others will dare to investigate and discover his utter uselessness. Flynn clears his throat.

“Only if you put your glove back on, Lucy. You’ll catch cold.”

The others try to help him climb out of his pit, but Flynn shakes them off with a dismissive _it’s fine._ He’s reminded enough of blindfolded captivity without gloved, phantom hands clawing at his body. However, between his blindness and the gloves blunting his sense of touch, Flynn can’t get a good hold on the loose snow resting on the surface, and as it crumbles under his fingers again, there’s an awful silence. Flynn imagines the others standing around where he’s buried to his shoulders, watching him fail.

The burning in his eyes is unbearable. Flynn hangs his head, hiding his face, and gasps in breaths of cold air, trying to cool his fevered head. When he squeezes his eyes shut, there’s no relief, but to his horror Flynn feels a few tears slip free.

He’s still gasping for breath when two pair of hands settle on him. Flynn jerks reflexively, shrugging them off, but then Lucy’s voice fills his ears, calm and commanding. “Flynn, that’s Rufus, on your left. Connor’s over on your right. They’re going to get you out.”

“Or we’re gonna try,” Rufus mutters. “You’re, like, the size of a redwood.”

“Maybe not the best time for _jokes,_ ” Connor adds, and suddenly Flynn gives a hysterical little chuckle, deep in his throat. It’s so ridiculously banal, their bickering, and although he’s on the edge of panic their ignorance of that soothes him. He shouldn’t have been so afraid that they’d notice his distress. He should have known.

Then he walks into the rings of the Lifeboat, and Flynn slams his fist into the metal as panic overtakes him. They know, they’ll all know…

He’s distracted by Lucy’s bare hand sliding against his face. It’s soft, softer than he deserves, and Flynn trembles with the knowledge of her pity. He paws at her arm, his joints stiff. “Your gloves; Lucy…”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Her breath is on his chin, and Flynn realizes how close she must be. “If you don’t want to. You don’t have to…admit, anything, to me.”

And Flynn nods, his breath wet, and lets Lucy guide him up into the _Lifeboat_. He understands, when she lets him fumble with his own seatbelt, that as always, she’s showing him mercy in her own terrible way.

“Is your seatbelt on, Lucy?” He hates that his voice is trembling.

“ _Yes._ ” A warm hand wraps around his frozen one. Flynn can’t help but wonder if she did it herself, if she’s been able to do it all this time, if he was useless long before he lost his eyes, if she’s been humoring him, if she’s been laughing at him, why she’s been keeping him around…

He’s pulled out of his spiral by Lucy’s fluttering laugh. “Flynn, I learned from watching _you._ ”

Because he knows Connor and Rufus may be close enough to hear, Flynn speaks softly. “You won’t need me. Now that you’ve learned.”

Lucy’s hand pulls on his, guides it over the distance to rest on her knee. Slides it over her thigh. “I’ll always need you, Flynn,” she whispers. “Why can’t you see that?”

 _Because you left me,_ Flynn thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud. “I can’t see _anything,_ ” he croaks, instead.

But then Lucy promises, “You will. You’ll heal,” and _yes._ That, Flynn can see.


End file.
